Tuesday, February 02, 2010

With the Bloody Disgusting Awards contest (insert shameless plug here: Vote for the jaded viewer!!!) and the Total Film disaster, what I recently noticed that some people haven't been talking about is that Fangoria.com has been down for the last few weeks. If you click on the site, it goes to a blank white page.

Just a week or so ago, they had the logo up but it wasn't clickable. Hmmm, this all leads me to believe one of the following:

A.) The site's been having server problemsB.) It's undergoing a redesign of some sortC.) They are possibly changing domain namesD.) The staff all left, the magazine is probably bankrupt and this is the end of Fangoria as we know it

Yup I'm gonna have to with D. That's the persistent rumor that's been floating around the interwebs of late. If it is true that most of the staff of Fangoria has been laid off, this is a sad day indeed.

Fangoria has been part of my horror childhood, tweens, teens and adult size life. I remember opening up a copy of Fangoria and looking at all the gory pictures and saying: "OMG! We gott a see Hellraiser Part...whatever". Look at Pinhead! He's fuckin badass!". The articles were a gateway into the minds of the horror filmmakers, the writers and the special effects geniuses we all know and love.

Aside from the magazine, the Weekend of Horrors was a must go event back in the day. I say back in the day because its recently become a shell of its former self. Horrible guests, boring panels, lack of dealers and just outrageous prices for autographs of C level celebrities.

But back in the day, it was filled with hard to find movies, a place to get awesome Evil Dead t-shirts and toys and collectibles that were nostalgia gone wild. The world premiere movies, the panels and the auctions made this one of the best conventions to go to.

Well that's all gone now.

The web is short on information on what's going on behind the scenes with Fangoria as we speak. Here are the rumors and heresay I've collected:

One of the moderators at Fangoria.com (@fubarinpa) was booted as a moderator

According to some message boards, the entire staff have been fighting and the web staff walked out and started their own blog (which you can go to here: Fangoria News)

No new Fangoria Weekend of Horrors conventions have been announced

The magazine is being handled by a different distribution agency

The magazine has slight pulse (people have gotten the most recent issue)

Editor Anthony Timpone has said it will be back up soon (via Facebook)

Well, will this all be addressed when it does come back up? Are all the rumors true about the web staff abandoning ship causing the site to sink? Hmm, well this post will add fire to the burning wildfire surrounding the future of Fangoria.

Fangoria is not the same as it use to be. In this internet age, how can a magazine/website compete with the Horror Hounds and Rue Morgues that seem to be now better in the space they once used to dominate.

Good post - been wondering about this, myself. Fangoria is a staple of the industry but it wouldn't surprise me if it goes away. Print media is a dying breed. I only wish I could have attended the past Weekend of Horrors when they were awesome. I went to this year's in NYC and it was pretty sad. But hey, maybe I can show off to the young folk in a few years.."I was at the LAST one, man!"

I'd like to add that even successful, profitable small businesses have been largely unable to get credit for the past year (it's the reason for President Obama's plan for injecting $30 billion into the small-biz lending system, which he announced today). I don't know if or how much that is a factor in The Brooklyn Company's current turmoil, but a mass walkout of staff usually points to something like nonpayment. More at http://weimarworld.blogspot.com/2010/02/rumors-about-fangorias-fate.html if you're interested.

Honestly, Im not surprised though I am saddened. Print is slowly dying thanks to all of us 3l33t ass computer Horrorphiles. The bullshit surrounding the Las Vegas convention pissed me off, and I am 100% going with Creation for this years convention, Argento!! If the magazine didnt cost more than my weekly DVD spending I would have continued my subscription, but free is so much cheaper than $6 to read everything online

Just an FYI Fango ditched on the whole Weekend of Horrors thing last Fall. I've heard some claims that they were dissatisfied with CreationEnt (The other company they were cahooting with for the WOH's). Last I heard they are only doing the once per year fest Trilogy Of Terror in Vegas. After attending all 3 days of quite a sparsely populated fest in San Jose 4 years ago, I can understand why a one location, once per year fest was implemented. They can put on a bigger fest, and not worry about a low turnout. Creation are continuing their own W.O.H.'s by the way. I think the L.A. fest happens in April or May. So we'll see who the onus belongs too in terms of sucky W.O.H.'s.

As for the site/mag I kind of wonder if it isn't a whole redesign. I recall hearing late last Summer that they were working toward bringing back the streaming FangoTV site. And other similar big ventures were underway. That could mean that the current web team has been re-deployed and or let go in lieu of another team or a new partner. It would be a shame if they bottomed out. Hopefully their Satellite radio show will illuminate the situation at some point soon.

I don't know what to believe, just the other day a notice for renewal of subscription was in my mailbox. Since I live in The Netherlands I always did use the Paypal option at Fango's website. Can't find it anymore.I really don't know what to do next, shall I pay in cash, shall I wait and buy next magazines (if they come) in my fav comic shop?I agree with everyone that said that it is a sad day if Fango's really dead.